Road tunes..from Madison to Sheboygan to Fond Du Lac

A masterpiece, he was never better.

His best album ever.


Heard it on headphones all the way through...nice.

Leonard in Sheboygan

I was early for my five oclock appointment in Sheboygan. Myself, a consultant and a GM were supposed to talk biz. As I got to Nino's Steakhouse, I realized that this was one of those places frequented by the elder generation. Lots of smoke and I was informed that "the Masons met there" every Tuesday night. Damn, missed that. I decided to get a drink in the bar and took in the scenery as someone who looked like my aunt Velma took my request. I came upon this elderly gentleman who's duaghter was celebrating a birthday in the restaurant. I love old people. My mom and dad have been gone a long time, and those were the people (those of that age) that I used to hang with. His name was Leonard, and by God, he had lived in Sheboygan all of his life except the eight years he gave to his country. He was a gunner for the big planes that went to Europe in the big war. He was proud of his service but thinks the country is "really fucked up" right now. He doesn't understand why we are in Iraq. He has been married for fifty nine years and just celebrated his 82nd birthday. When I asked him how he made it this far, he said that he liked good beer and good times. He still likes to dance with his wife. "Not anywhere where anyone can see us." I bought Leonard a beer and made my way to my appointment. After dinner, I went back to say goodbye to Leonard. It was apparent that, indeed, Leonard liked beer. When I shook his hand, he gripped it with his other land, looked me in the eye and said "thanks for the chat." I saluted him and left. I will never see him again. I love old people.

Christopher Glenn

This guy has a voice from God. He is retiring at CBS News after being there for over 35 years. I can still hear his newscasts on KMOX and I always wondered what he looked like. I remember he used to do a bit on Saturday morning TV between cartoons that was aimed directly at young people. It was called "In The News" and that is when I first fell in love with his voice. Too bad (for me), it will be gone soon. Enjoy your retirement.

Tunes on the CD player for Saturday 01/21/06

Released in 1980 with the original guys. I always liked this band.


One of the CDs that my son took to college with him. Not many better CDs in my collection.


The DVD Audio version in 5:1 surround sound. Sounds better today than it did 25 years ago when I first heard it.

Wilson "Wicked" Pickett RIP

What would the "oldies" format be without this guy? Classic story... a guy goes from nothing to big star...has trouble with what follows...rehabilitates himself...gets elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and then dies too young. He was 64. One of the best movies of all time "The Commitments" deals with a struggling Irish R&B band and their goal of playing for Wilson Pickett.
Everyone knows him for "Mustang Sally"(isn't it funny that we had a famous person named "Sally Ride"?) and "In The Midnight Hour", but I thought his best song was "Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You"

The Summer of 1980...

was one hot muhfugga. I lived with Cliff Schultz (local record guy) in a house at 74th and Holmes in Kansas City. It was a very nice tudor home with four bedrooms. I had one bedroom and a bath off of it. Hey, I was 24 and it was all I needed at that time. I drove a 1969 VW with NO air conditioningIn the middle of July, Cliff and I removed all of his window unit air conditioners because the brand spanking new central unit was on its way...and then all hell (literally) broke loose. The next day, the mercury hit 98 and then after that, the daytime temperature was never below 100 for the next THREE weeks. "White Hot" by Red Rider was on the radio, along with "Against The Wind" by Bob Seger, "This Beat Goes On" by The Kings and "I Hear You Know" by Jon and Vangelis. I was unattached but became attached when a woman I had met at a remote broadcast asked me out for a drink while I was on the air. I normally didn't do that kind of thing (yeah, right)but I met her for a drink that night and (on her tab) we immediately moved into The Raphael hotel on the plaza. Here I was, bumpkin Bill, and here was this Jewish woman from Long Island in my life. Uh...let's just say, I had a great time and shortly thereafter, she broke it off with me. I still think of her a lot. She taught me a lot about a lot of things. Thanks for being a chapter in the book, Liz. 112 degress at 4:48 PM. I remember it well.

John Rook's website

John has forgotten more about radio than I will ever know. His insight is 98% of the time spot on and makes some valid points about the past, present and future of terrestrial radio. If you work in or are a fan of the radio, this is excellent stuff.
http://www.johnrook.com/

Brush with greatness Part Tres

That would be Eric Bazilian and the other guy from The Hooters...you remember them, don't you? "And We Danced"...come on now, wow... you know.."All You Zombies"..right?..ok, but take a look behind the three guys..those are carts, kids, and albums to your right. KSHE had the weirdest filing system. If you were looking for Robert Plant, it was filed under "Led Zeppelin". Don Henley?..."Eagles". I almost ran out of time a bunch when I first got there..very confusing. Joe Walsh? Forgetaboutit.

Tunes for the drive this AM

One of the greatest recordings EVER.


Darden Smith is one of the best songwriters that you have never heard of.


Half of this album is a masterpiece, the other half is shit.

This Has Got to Really Suck...

....if you are Fox network.















The final four are now set for the NFL Championship Games. In the NFC Seattle (market 14) squares off against Carolina (market 35). In The AFC, Denver (market 22) takes on Pittsburgh (market 23). Already there is squawking and moaning about how there are no New Yorks, New Englands, Chicagos, or Dallas'. BOO friggin HOO! This may be one of the best Superbowls ever, but no one will watch because it features teams from fly over cities. As a Chiefs fan, I REALLY can't root for Denver (no way, never), not Pittsburgh either. Seattle used to be in our division, so I can't go there. Carolina it is, and poetic justice for the bean counters that run the networks. Market number 35 wins the Superbowl. Cool.

KSHE 1986

(clockwise from upper right) john ulett, d.j. johnson, j.c. corcoran, rich dalton, abby pollay, kim brawley (now holman),me, Al hofer.

Include Your Caption Here...

Because I have no comment.

My favorite drummers

I did get paid for drumming a number of years ago. Does that make me an expert on drumming? Far from it, but since I DID get paid, does that mean I was a professional drummer? Maybe. Here are the guys who have made an influence...

Billy Cobham. I first heard Tommy Bolin through Billy. I was at a head shop in Moline in 1973 while "Birds of Fire" by the Mahavishnu Orchestra was playing on the stereo. I loved hangin at headshops on a Saturday afternoon because, checks were cashed and you could always find some cool incense, posters or tshirt to get. I then found previous Mahavishnu releases and then,later in 1973, he released "Spectrum" featuring an unknown guitartist named Tommy Bolin. Billy rules.

Keith Moon. He was once quoted in an interview to be able to keep four different times with each limb. Damn, four different ones? Wow. Reckless abandon is how I would describe his style. "Who's Next" was his masterpiece.

Harvey Mason. He may be the best drummer on the planet. Listen to "Captain Fingers" by Lee Ritenour and then you tell me how he does it. He has drummed for everybody and his chops are unbelievable.

Richie Hayward. I didn't get to see Little Feat until the late 80s. I was SO looking forward to see how Richie did that live as opposed to the studio. There was no way he could pull it off. He did. I saw some old "Don Kirschner's Rock Concert" not too long ago and Ikeand Tina Turner performed. Richie was their drummer, too. Cool.

Charlie Watts. He's not paid to be flashy, he's paid to keep the beat. No one keeps the beat better. Slow and steady wins the race.

Neil Peart. Very few guys turn the drums into a lead instrument. He does. The quintessential "How'd he do that?" Guy. Fastest hands ever.

Uriel Jones. The best Motown drummer. The Funk Brother who drummed to "Aint Too Proud To Beg","Cloud 9" and the other great Motown hits.


Honorable mention..Hal Blaine...Simon Kirke...Ringo Starr...Bill Bruford.
These are all drummers of the "Rock era". I would by no means leave out guys like Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Sandy Nelson etc.

Saturday, January 14th 2006

And this is what is on my 5 disc CD player at home...


Probably my favorite album by her, the one I have listened to the most for sure.


Some of the best "fusion" music ever. I love the cover.


This WAS the album on my player the summer of my 16th year


Good luck finding anything out about "Redeye"


Underrated southern rock band and really nice guys. Loved this release

The boy returns...

..from Egypt, safe, sound and full of praise at the hospitality of the Egyptian people. Of course, he was over there with four women. In Egypt, in some areas, you are allowed to have four wifes. Apparently he was viewed by some as being a powerful American. How funny. He lived in a youth hostel in Cairo
for a week and then witnessed the Festival of Eid. That is a religious holiday where families come together on the last day of Ramadan. It could be likened to our Christmas and Thanksgiving together. Apparently, they also slaughter livestock in their driveway and give away some to the poor. His last week was in the apartment of the head librarian of Alexandria,
a city he called absoulutely beautiful.
He came back changed and more of a man. As a parent, you see him slowly drifting away, but as we learned in "The Lion King", it is the cycle of life. He has done more at 21 than I have ever even thought of. In some ways, he is more of a man than I am.

The Traffic Jam

We were very, very good. Played our first show on St. Patrick's Day on the landing in St. Louis, then opened for groups like Shooting Star, The Rainmakers, Jeff Healy, Missouri and yes, do the 4 hour bar gig on Saturday Night. It was some of the best times ever. We did Stevie and Stevie proud, along with ZZ, Cream, Jimi and others. Wrote some of our own, too. Me in the middle, guitar player is Steve Percaro, yes, THAT Steve Percaro and Jim Evans on bass.

One of the greatest songs ever

Man, everytime I hear this song, it gets me... I had it on the Ipod and after last week when I buried my cousin who served in Vietnam, he reminded me so much of my brother, who served with him. My brother is buried amongst the rolling hills of Jefferson Barracks. Mark Knopfler is a musical genius to be able to write words that effect people so much...

Brothers In Arms...
These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Some day you'll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And you'll no longer burn
To be brothers in arm
Through these fields of destruction
Baptism of fire
I've watched all your suffering
As the battles raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms
There's so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones
Now the sun's gone to hell
And the moon's riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it's written in the starlight
And every line on your palm
We're fools to make war
On our brothers in arms

Again...

Man, what a weird year already. Jack Snow was one of the nicest, classiest people I know. Always a gentleman when I saw him; always knew who I was and always asked how I was doing. A Notre Dame alum who was with the Rams forever.Maybe Billy Joel was on to something...he was only 62. Godspeed Jack Snow.

The New Dodge Challenger

This is the new 2007 Dodge Challenger. I can't picture myself (50 next month) tooling around the city in it. Or can I....? I applaud Chrysler for trying something new.
Us old guys remember when the Dodge challenger was a muhfugga on the streets it looked like this:

Driving a car like that would turn a boy into a man very quickly. Also, gas was 37 cents a gallon.

The New Year

Man, the first week has been rough. I have a head cold that I can't seem to shake. I lost one of my favorite people and had to bury him on Friday. I got into a dust up with my daughter last night (over nothing). I am really looking forward to getting back to work. I would much rather deal with business challenges than deal with personal ones. Let's hope it starts looking up. I have faith in God and I know this is just a test. I hope I pass the audition.

Exploding Star

Here is what an exploding star looks like over a few months time. That must have been one fast explosion...here it is.

My son in Egypt

The word that he was going to Cairo Egypt just about floored his mother. The first word that came to her mind was "kidnapping terrorists". Okay that's two,(sue me) but when is he going to have a chance to do this..when he's married with kids? I don't think so. Judging by this, I think he's OK.

What a Football Game

I stayed up WAY too late last night to watch..college football. My Hawkeyes lost (with the help of the officials), Mizzou won on the back of Brad Smith. I usually root for the underdog, even if it means...holding my nose...and rooting for Texas. USC had won too many, it was time for someone else. WOW! What an ending and what a game. After the game, Pete Carroll, coach of USC was humble and gracious in his praise for Texas. He showed me why so many kids want to play for him. He showed great class. On the other hand, Keith Jackson
who is by far better at calling college football than anyone before or in the future was just lost. It was like seeing Willie Mays playing for the Mets or Joe Namath playing for the Rams. There comes a time to go, and at 77, he deserves to go when he wants to, but Keith, it's over, you made absolutely no sense last night. I counted in one play, six mistakes. You were the greatest and I want to remember you like that, not like last night.

Yuks from my friend Jay...

It's happened already

Unbelievable! Not even two days into the New Year and we have lost people we know and care about. My cousin, Karl McNew Jr. died of throat cancer yesterday. Second from left with the McNew boys. It was very unexpected. He was the oldest man in my generation of relatives and probably my late brothers best friend. They joined the Army together. He was staying with us when the Beatles played on Ed Sullivan on 2/9/64. He was in the room when it came on. I will miss him dearly.He was 58. Leo Chears, one of the great names in St. Louis broadcasting passed yesterday, too. Everyone in the radio business in St. Louis knew of Leo. "The Man In The Red Vest" was 72. My daughter lost a friend yesterday too as he died in a car accident. He was NOT wearing a seatbelt. Let this be a lesson to all that we are here for just a short time. Make it count. Do not hesitate to tell the people you love that you love them. You never know when your time is up. I ask for your prayers and blessings in this already disappointing year.

Goodbye Dick and thanks

When I lived in KC for about a year and a half, I got to reacquaint myself with my friend Lisa, who works for the Chiefs. Lisa and I have been friends for years and she is one of the sweetest people I know. One night (knowing the huge Chiefs fan I am), she asked me to go to "Dick's party". Apparently, once a year, Dick Vermeil throws a party for his coaches and the people in the office. Dick also owns a vineyard and makes his own wine. After a wonderful meal and a lot of wine, I was sitting at a table, thinkin how surreal it was that I was eating and drinking with Gunter Cunningham, Al Saunders and feeling that I really didn't belong there. At that time, Carol Vermeil sat down next to me and said, "so, Randy, what's your story?". I reminded her that I had interviewed her once when I was at the Rock in St. Louis during the championship season. She remembered that the studios were downtown and it was a pleasant experience. We chatted for a bit, I told her how grateful St. Louis was for guys like her husband and Kurt Warner and the whole championship season. About ten minutes after that, Dick Vermeil walks over, sits down, puts his arm around me and says, "Randy, Carol and I are SO pleased you are here with us. Thanks so much for coming, any friend of Lisa's is great in our book, we are so happy you are here, can I get you anything?" Wha? Dick friggin Vermeil is asking me if he can get anything for me? Wha? I said, thanks Dick, you have given me so much. Then he hugged me. First class in every way.
Although I loved seeing you like this...

I always remember this...

Thanks Dick for everything you gave the state of Missouri. Enjoy your retirement.

Happy New Year

I pray this will be a great one for family and friends. RIP those close to me that I lost last year..Jason Calvin, Kyle Riley, JC Hall, Abigail Pollay and Cindy Kelly. I hope there are no names next year.

First Interview Ever

was with this guy...

Ronnie
Van Zandt






(picture taken by me @1973)
I helped put together our radio station in high school and one of my duties was to write to all of the record companies and ask them for service. One who did give us service was MCA. In 1973, these long haired southern guys released their first album and we got a copy. If I am not mistaken, we also got copies of "The Groundhogs","Mose Jones" and "Wishbone Ash", all were on MCA. In September of 1973, Lynyrd Skynyrd opened for ZZ Top in Davenport and the MCA record guy at the time got me backstage with Ronnie. I asked him why he was barefoot onstage and he said it was because he wanted to feel the stage burn. I remember thinking how young he was, not much older than me. I wish I still had that interview today. The sad thing is, I really don't remember when I lost it. After opening for ZZ Top, the Who asked them to open on their American tour, not bad.From that day forward, I was a fan and I genuinely hurt the day the plane went down. One of those days that I will always remember where I was when I heard the news. Yes, I know they were rednecks, but damn, they could really play. With all of that in mind, I present my top five Skynyrd songs:
"I Never Dreamed"
"Seasons"
"I Know A Little"
"I Need You"
"That Smell"
I thought "Street Survivors" was their masterpiece and then they were done.

My Last Weigh In of 2005...

was at the Y after playing basketball today...198 pounds. Good Lord, at the beginning of this year I weighed 183. So, my first New Years resolution is to lose 25 next year. Let's see how I do, it's only a half a pound a week. No sweat, right? Right.

Brush With Greatness Part Deux

Yes, that would be Gene Simmons and myself at the Hooters on Craig Road in St. Louis. That was when I did mornings with Smash at KSHE and our producer on the show used to be their manager or something like that. This was 1992 I believe. We used to do morning shows on the road. He seemed like a good guy, liked to laugh a lot. Well...duh, who wouldn't in his shoes?